Acrophobia
by queenbibliophile
Summary: Scorpius is afraid of heights. And Rose is determined to make him fly. Rated T for language.


"Rose, get me me down from here!" Scorpius screamed in the highest pitch known to man as his best friend shrieked in delight, doing a couple of loop-the-loops.

"SCORPIUS, THIS IS AMAZING!" Rose yelled over the whistling wind. Scorpius blew the fifth cluster of her red hair from his mouth where it kept ending up because of the wind blowing and tightened his hold on his best friend's waist.

"Rose, I freaking _don't want to die before I kiss someone_." Scorpius yelled. He felt Rose tilt the broom and dared to look up for one second before he lost all of his nerve and buried his head into her shoulder again.

"YOU'RE THIRTEEN YEARS OLD. THERE'S PLENTY OF TIME LEFT FOR YOU TO KISS SOMEONE."

"NOT IF I DIE NOW, YOU BLOODTHIRSTY MEGALOMANIAC!"

"YOU AREN'T GOING TO DIE NOW, PINHEAD. AND WE'RE NOT GOING DOWN UNTIL YOU GROW A PAIR AND LOOK UP."

"ROSE NYMPHADORA WEASLEY. I HAVE A FREAKING FEAR OF HEIGHTS. I CANNOT LOOK UP, YOU PALTROON."

"EGGHEAD."

"FUNGUS."

"VERMIN."

"MAGGOT."

"PORKY."

"WHAT IN MERLIN IS PORKY?!"

"FAT." Rose sang gleefully, spiralling downwards and pulling up sharply to hover in the air. Scorpius yelped and dug his head back into Rose's shoulder, his arms pulling Rose so close to him she felt like she was wearing a corset.

"I AM NOT FAT!"

"YOU COULD BE LESS FAT IF YOU PLAYED QUIDDITCH."

"I AM NOT FAT."

"YOU COULD ASK CHASTITY TO HOGSMEADE IF YOU WERE LESS FAT."

"Scorpius grumbled, and didn't dare lift his head when he felt the broom move. He hated the Weasleys. He hated their Quidditch obsession. He hated Ron Weasley. He hated Rose for pulling him onto a broom. He hated their whole, Quidditch-crazy family. But he was scared of Nana Weasley. Who wouldn't, when she could inflict as much damage with a frying pan as she could with her wand? Scorpius had seen it happen first-hand when Uncle Charlie refused to cut his hair.

"IT WAS A MISTAKE EVER TELLING YOU THAT I FANCIED HER."

"YOU SAY THAT ALL THE TIME; BUT WHEN HAS SOMETHING YOU EVER TOLD ME WORKED OUT HORRIBLY FOR YOU?!"

"IN FIRST YEAR," Scorpius began promptly, "WHEN I TOLD YOU WHAT _SECTUMSEMPRA_ WAS AND YOU USED IT ON ME. I NEARLY DIED!"

"WE WERE ELEVEN. AND STUPID."

"THE SAME YEAR, WHEN AT ONE OF SLUGHORN'S PARTIES I TOLD YOU THAT HE WAS CORPULENT AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A COMPLIMENT AND TOLD HIM I'D CALLED HIM THAT. I ENDED UP IN DETENTION FOR A MONTH!"

"NOT MY FAULT YOU HAD SUCH A WIDE VOCABULARY!"

"IN SECOND YEAR WHEN I TOLD YOU I THOUGHT DOMINIQUE WAS PRETTY. YOU WENT AND TOLD HER AND SHE WOULDN'T SHUT UP ABOUT IT FOR WEEKS!"

"WHAT ELSE DID YOU EXPECT DOMINIQUE TO DO?!"

"A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO WHEN I CAUGHT JAMES AND FRED PRANKING MCGONAGALL'S OFFICE AND TOLD YOU ABOUT IT. YOU BLABBED TO LUCY, AND SHE WENT AND TOLD MCGONAGALL ABOUT THE PRANK. SHE PUT JAMES AND FRED TO WORK SCRUBBING EACH AND EVERY GREENHOUSE DOWN AND LATER THEY CAME AFTER ME. MY HAIR WAS GREEN FOR WEEKS!"

"I DIDN'T KNOW LUCY WAS GOING TO TELL MCGONAGALL!"

"LUCY WAS HEAD GIRL! OF COURSE SHE WOULD TELL MCGONAGALL!"

"MERLIN, YOU'RE SUCH A PRICK!" Rose yelled at Scorpius. He felt his blood beginning to boil.

"TWAT."

"BLOCKHEAD."

"SHITFACE."

"DOUCHEMONGER."

"LOSER."

"ASSHAT."

"I've come across decomposed bodies that are more offensive than you are!"

"Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent!"

"Brains aren't everything. In fact, in your case they're nothing!"

"Can I borrow your face for a few days while my ass is on vacation?" Scorpius shot back. Suddenly, Rose's eyes grew misty.

"What? Going to admit defeat so soon?"

"Scor," Rose said affectionately, "you're flying."

"Of course I'm flying, you git. I'm on a broom."

"Scorpius," Rose said, slightly more urgently. "You're on a broom; 300 feet in the air."

"So?!"

Rose let out a delighted whoop and zoomed in circles. Scorpius clenched his jaw in annoyance and hunched over the broom, his hands wrapped around it's handle.

"SCORPIUS HYPERION MALFOY! YOU DID IT! YOU'RE FLYING! AND YOU'RE NOT SCARED! I DID IT!" Rose cackled gleefully and looped up and down. Scorpius merely looked down, saw the Quidditch pitch below them and scowled.

"Rosie, of course I'm not scared. Why would I be?"

"Scor! You got over your fear of heights! THIS IS A WONDERFUL DAY FOR PEOPLE WITH FEAR OF HEIGHTS EVERYWHERE!"

The full meaning of Rose's words hit him in the face like a Bludger. He was on a broom 300 feet in the air. And he wasn't scared.

"I DID IT! I'M NOT SCARED!" He yelled, spreading his arms and lifting his body off the broom, his legs anchoring him in case he fell.

"YOU'RE NOT SCARED!"

" _I'M NOT SCARED!_ "

"YOU CAN TRY OUT FOR THE TEAM NOW! MAYBE YOU'LL BE CHASER! MAYBE YOU CAN BE A BEATER, LIKE ME! MAYBE YOU CAN EVEN MAKE SEEKER!" Rose screamed in delight, her wild red hair flying up around her.

"GRYFFINDOR'S GOING _DOWN_ NEXT YEAR!" Scorpius agreed loudly with her.

"SLYTHERIN FOR THE WIN!" Rose chanted, sending yet another wave of euphoria at Scorpius. He never thought he'd find a Weasley in Slytherin. And yet, here she was, the first of the Weasley/Potter clan to be a Slytherin. And damn it, he was proud of her.

"SLYTHERIN FOR THE WIN!" Scorpius echoed her sentiments as they shot by the library windows. Fifth year Ravenclaws poked their heads out of the windows, annoyed at all the yelling. Scorpius didn't care. This was one evening he would loath to forget.

_line break_

When Rose and Scorpius came back to Hogwarts for their fourth year, Scorpius would try out for the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Rose would nearly kill him, he would win a spot next to her as Beater, and they would dominate all the matches from then on until it was time for them to leave. Minerva McGonagall would wring her hands every time Gryffindor came second to Slytherin, which was pretty much all the time.

When Rose and Scorpius came back to Hogwarts for their seventh year, they would be made Head Girl and Head Boy. They would fall in love, and Scorpius would tremble in fear every time he had to meet the Weasley family because he knew that if he hurt Rose, his body would never be found.

While Rose and Scorpius finished their education at Hogwarts, they would be scouted by Puddlemere United during their final match and eventually make their way into the Puddlemere United Reserve Team. They would play their first match against Kenmare Kestrals and give their Seeker the extra time she needed to grab the Snitch through clever Bludger juggling by the two of them, effectively keeping the Kestrals' Seeker at bay. They would celebrate and Ron would finally crack a smile at one of Scorpius' jokes when he came over to eat.

Three years later, they would both be finally accepted into the Puddlemere United Team as the main Beaters, and lead their team to victory in the Quidditch World Cup against the Chudley Cannons. During the victory celebration, in the drunk giddiness they both were basking in, Scorpius would propose and Rose would accept, not changing her decision when they both woke up in the morning with engagement rings on their fingers and pounding headaches in their temples. Rose would forever then tease her father about defeating 'his team' in the World Cup and Scorpius would always beg her not to, for fear of being incarcerated.

And years later, when Scorpius would by lying on his deathbed, and Rose would be fast asleep next to him, with his hand tightly curled in her own, he would smile and lean over to his bedside where he kept a picture of his and Rose's first victory at Hogwarts as Beaters. He would take it in his free hand, and hold it tenderly to his heart, and thank his lucky stars that Rose forced him onto a broom that one evening that he would loath to forget.

And finally at peace, he would pass to a much higher level of euphoria and settle down to sit at its gates and wait for Rose.


End file.
